New recommendations from 24 international sports bodies aimed at tackling doping include the storage of samples for up to 10 years, which will allow for more extensive retrospective testing as newly devised methods are put in place. This is a key part of the revised strategy, the testing bodies acknowledging that current antidoping methods cannot keep up to date with the new types of sports drugs and the ingenuity of sporting cheats.

"The fight against doping has intensified over the past 10 to 15 years, but the increase in simple sampling procedures has not stopped some athletes from continuing," said Jiri Dvorak, Chief Medical Officer of FIFA. Indeed, footballers attending the 2015 World Cup in Brazil will be some of the first to be subject to the new procedures.

The recommendations were thrashed out at a meeting in November 2013 which successfully created “a roadmap to guide the implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code 2015.” In attendance were representatives of the IOC, FIFA, IRB and WADA, as well as the governing bodies of floorball, baseball, basketball and volleyball. They engaged with scientists from accredited drug testing labs to finalise the new code.

The roadmap also encourages the expansion of biological passports for athletes, which has already been adopted by FIFA, as well as the recognition and introduction of sports-specific testing programmes which legislate for the peculiar practices encountered in a sport. Improved forensic intelligence, such as that which uncovered the illegal BALCO operation and the continual search for new drugs and better analytical methods remain a top priority.

"True implementation of the 2015 World Anti-Doping Code will depend largely on the ability to align thinking around these core concepts and strategies," the report concluded.